Noah
built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every
clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelled the
sweet odor, he said to himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because
of man since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I
ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth
lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and
night shall not cease." Genesis 8:20-22
Putting
spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, "Do you see
anything?" Looking up the man replied, "I see people looking like
trees and walking." Then he laid hands on the man's eyes a second time and
he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then
he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village."
Mark 8:23B-26
Piety
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.
Study
Exasperated Jesus cannot stay angry with his
children for long. The Pharisees had just come to him for a
sign. Jesus reminded them that he fed
four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and had seven baskets filled
with left-overs. They still did not “get it.”
“When I broke the seven loaves for the
four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They
answered [him], “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
(Mark 8:20-21)
Yet, upon arriving in Bethesda, the people
brought Jesus a blind beggar who needed to be cured. And Jesus could not resist fulfilling their
prayer. “Ask and you shall receive.” According to the notes in the New American
Bible, “Jesus’ actions and the gradual cure of the blind man probably have the
same purpose as in the case of the deaf man (Mk 7:31–37). Some commentators
regard the cure as an intended symbol of the gradual enlightenment of the
disciples concerning Jesus’ messiahship.”
The Lord God dried up the flood
waters which covered the land – he could not stay angry with Noah and his
children for long then either. Likewise, Jesus acts accordingly. Jesus
knows that the light is slowly illuminating the minds and hearts of his
disciples. He persisted in mercy.
Action
Jesus cannot hold a grudge for long. We should be so kind. Resolving conflicts peacefully is not a
natural skill for any of us. We hold
grudges much longer than Jesus.
This Saturday, you can learn more about how
to sharpen your skills at conflict resolution when the Arlington Peace and
Justice Commission presents “Conflict Resolution: An Alternative to Violence.” The presentation will be Saturday night,
February 18 at the Church of the Nativity in Burke, VA.
After Mass at 5 p.m. and a pasta dinner,
there will be a keynote presentation by Fr. Clement Mweyang Aapengnuo, Ph. D.,
who is the President of Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies in
Ghana. A panel of local experts and
activists will then respond to Fr. Clem’s Keynote address.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP by sending
a note to peace@arlingtondiocese.org.
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